Childhood leukaemia is a very serious disease. In simple terms it is a cancer of white blood cells - one particular sort of white cell, usually present in small numbers, grows and divides more than it ought to, until it becomes the dominant type of cell in the blood and bone marrow. It disrupts the other jobs that the blood usually does (e.g clotting; fighting infection). In the past 15-20 years successful treatments have been developed in Europe and the US, and these are widely used. In Australia a child diagnosed with it would be treated at one of the large public hospitals which has specialists in childhood cancers - for example, the Royal Melbourne Childrens Hospital, or the New Children's Hospital in Sydney, which has a tumour bank. At such centres, almost all children can be brought into remission,and for about 2/3 of them, the disease hasn't returned in the time for which they have been watched, which is usually 10-15 years. Similar treatment would be available in hospitals in America and Europe.

In Australia, (Lion's Cord Blood Appeal ) the treatment usually lasts 2 years. It involves several drugs, (presumably L-asparaginase and dexamethosone). As you are probably aware, a lot of the drugs which are needed to get rid of the leukaemia have side effects, and a lot of the success of treatment depends on the amount of experience the clinicians have in dealing with these. Treatment usually involves a complicated system of drugs administered for some time; a lot depends upon selecting the appropriate regime of drugs, and on how the individual child reacts to those drugs.

This is a tribute to the seven year old child of my friend who passed away on 26th Feb this year in Lima, Peru.One of the reasons Diego is not here today is that there was no registered Bone Marrow facility available to him. We are hoping to awaken awareness that the basic opportunities that are available to our children here do not exist in many other places.During Diego's illness Maria was in contact with an Argentinian man who now lives in Seattle, who after losing a son to leukaemia decided to create a Latin American Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Registry.Now he is preparing to establish a new donor centre in Lima; which with the permission of Maria and Francisco will be named the "DIEGO JOSE MEDINA SIABALA DONOR CENTRE".This is a fitting tribute to a little boy who smiled all the time against all odds, and his Mum and Dad hope to be the first donors to inspire others to do the same.

Here is part of a letter sent to us by Pedro Rivarola

"Thank you so much for your letter. I firmly believe that we have to honor the courage and strength that many children around the world have when suffering, mostly in silence.

There are wonderful organizations that are trying to bring some relief and hope everywhere, but Latin America is behind in many aspects. One of our goals is to restore their pride and confidence to build a future for their children and empower them to be better human beings in order to have opportunities that most seem to have out of reach. At least, within our mission we will accomplish that.

All children are little angels and we are very committed to proclaim their courage and their immense strength that they always show in such desperate situations.

If anything you can help with is spreading the word of our cause. We have a huge endeavor ahead and anything helps. Let me know what you can do about it and what do you need from me."

Best regards,

Pedro Jose Rivarola
THE MAX FOUNDATION
Latin American Bone Marrow & Cord Blood Registry
MAX BANK
Seattle,
Washington.
http://www.themaxfoundation.org

If anyone is interested in helping this cause in any way please email Jeanette Parnell